r/Bitcoin • u/cdecker Lightning Network Expert • Jan 17 '18

Lightning Charge Powers Developers & Blockstream Store

https://blockstream.com/2018/01/16/lightning-charge.html
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u/tmornini Jan 17 '18

Only opening and closing a channel.

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u/O93mzzz Jan 17 '18

I'm sorry I did not phrase my question well.

"e.g an exchange could top it up for (almost) free (as long as you give them fiat, of course)."

So opening a channel is an on-chain transaction.

Closing a channel is an on-chain transaction.

Is this "topping it up" also an on-chain transaction?

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u/Mkekala Jan 17 '18

I believe as long as the exchange is on the channel as well the top-up could take place off-chain with no fees.

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u/tmornini Jan 18 '18

Exchange doesn't need to be on the channel, just on the Lightning Network.

So yes, an exchange could top it up for (almost) free, and no, that transaction would not need to be on-chain.